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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24037600">in the after years</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshipshipper/pseuds/theshipshipper'>theshipshipper</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Half of It (2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Aster's POV, F/F, Post-Canon, aster and ellie reunites alsfjklg</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 15:35:33</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,640</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24037600</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/theshipshipper/pseuds/theshipshipper</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Aster comes back to Squahamish five years later to visit her family. As fate would have it, she also reunites with Ellie Chu. </p><p>--</p><p>"So…" Aster says now, slow. A small smile on her face. "It's been more than a couple of years."</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ellie Chu/Aster Flores</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>212</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>in the after years</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/awkwardseyrah/gifts">awkwardseyrah</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Hope you guys enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aster spends most of the train ride home drawing on her sketch pad, determined to distract herself from the rumbling in the pit of her stomach. To say that she’s anxious about reuniting with her family would be an understatement; in truth, she’s completely terrified and can only imagine the kind of reception they would give her after all these years.</p><p>She glances up from her work when she feels the train slow to a stop, nervous butterflies fluttering when her gaze lands on the familiar houses lined up along the tracks of Squahamish Station. </p><p><em> She’s really back </em>, she thinks nervously as a few other train passengers start to gather their belongings. She takes a deep breath before reaching for her own bag on the seat next to her and tucks her sketchpad in an outer pocket before she heads out of the train. </p><p>Even though she hasn’t been back home for years, it seems as though everything about the town has remained exactly as she remembers. Then again, it is Squahamish -- it wouldn’t have mattered if time has spanned into decades or centuries, no one expects grand changes from such a small town.</p><p>She spots Paul Munsky outside of his house by the station almost immediately, loading a few big containers into the back of his truck. Even with his back turned on her, she could see how much he’s grown in the last five years. He looks different now, his hair much shorter with the hint of a stubble growing on his face.</p><p>He notices her walking on the opposite street when he turns. “Aster! Hey, um -- ” he clears his throat, walks across to reach her. “Long time no see. Are you here for the reunion thing?” </p><p>She isn’t aware there was going to be a reunion of any kind, though she should have realized. Squahamish High held both five and ten year reunions, and has done so for as long as she could remember, and though her own was still a year away, it should have crossed her mind that this is around the time in the summer that those events were held.</p><p>Aster shakes her head in answer, tries for a smile. “Just visiting family actually.”</p><p>It’s been two years since she’s last been home, even longer since she made the decision that altered her life completely. Her parents, her father, specifically, were unable to take the changes lightly; when she’d refused Trig's proposal and decided she wanted to go to Art School, her father was appalled. And when, only a few years later, she admitted to her attraction to women, he’d been even more outraged.</p><p>Their relationship since then had become strained at best and non-existent at worst; the only reason she even decided to visit is due to her mother’s insistence. With Aster fresh out of university, she’s just about to enter a new chapter of her life, and she figures that, as long as her family is willing, it wouldn’t hurt to clear whatever anonymity she had formed with them in the last few years. </p><p>“Oh. Cool,” Paul says with a nod, at a loss for words as he’s always been. “Well, it was nice seeing you again.”</p><p>“You too, Paul,” She tells him, then begins to walk again. She’s taken a few steps away from him when she turns back, chewing on the inside of her cheek as she ponders over a question she’s not sure she wants to ask.</p><p>Paul is staring right back at her, patient, giving her an awkward smile as he waits for her to make up her mind. She takes in a deep breath, glances at the familiar house just right by the train tracks. </p><p>“Is, uh -- ” She looks back at Paul, feels her cheek grow warm at the knowing look he throws at her. “Who else is coming to the reunion?”</p><p>It’s not the smoothest of questions but he’s not one to call her out on it; he offers her a smile. “Pretty much everybody. Not like a lot of us really left,” he answers thoughtfully. “Ellie’s coming, too, though it took a while before I talked her into it, to be honest. She’s coming in tomorrow.”</p><p>Aster nods slowly, unsure how to respond. <em> It’s not like it never crossed my mind </em>, she remembers herself saying. She’s become honest enough with herself to admit that the thought of Ellie Chu with her round-rimmed glasses and one-cuffed jeans crossed her mind pretty often in the last five years. There was just something about her that sparked a fire in Aster, and had she known then what she knows now, if she’d just allowed herself to feel how she felt, she wonders if things would have turned out any different.</p><p>“I’ll, uh - ” Paul scratches the back of his neck, smiles awkwardly at her again. “I’ll tell her you said hi.”</p><p>“No, don’t.” She tries not to make a face at her too-quick response “I mean, you don’t need to. It’s okay.”</p><p>“Oh. Alright.”</p><p>Aster nods once more, lifts her hand to wave goodbye, then she continues to walk towards the end of the street where her mother is sitting inside her car. </p><p>The drive home is too quick for her liking but it is some relief to get her reunion with the rest of her family out of the way. Both her father and younger sister greets her with a hug, though the whole exchange is uncomfortable, but she does appreciate the gesture.</p><p>Dinner is a quiet affair, the unbearable silence looming over them as they eat her mother's traditional beef stew. There's some comfort in the familiarity of being there with her family but she finds herself getting sucked into the shell of her former self, falling into the same trappings that had once bounded her in place, and in silence..</p><p>She retires early after her meal and wakes up at midday the next morning. By then the house is already empty save from her Mother when she heads downstairs. Her Father's already at the church to prepare for his Sunday sermon while her sister is apparently out with her friends. </p><p>She borrows her mother’s car sometime in the afternoon, once she’s eaten and dressed for the day. She heads into the town’s center to visit some of her old favorite boutiques and to see just how much had changed in a place she thought she knew so well.</p><p><em> How well do you know Squahamish? </em> The question pops into her mind, unbidden, Ellie’s written words echoing in the chambers of her mind. Somehow, she finds herself standing on the familiar corner of Al's Big Beefy, staring at an empty wall where her - and Ellie's - work of art once stood. </p><p>A slow smile slips onto her face; for some reason, Ellie always knew the right questions to ask her, constantly challenging her to step out of her comfort zone. It’s funny how, technically, they’d only spoken to each other a handful of times throughout high school, but she was possibly the one person who knew Aster best.</p><p>She has just turned away from the wall to leave when she finds a familiar face staring right at her. Her footstep falters when her gaze lands on the girl, her small frame covered by a grey knitted sweater and dark skinny jeans. She looks much older now, though in a good way, as if she’s grown into the person she’s meant to be. </p><p>"Uh, hi," the familiar stranger greets, her voice low and soft. She tips her round-rimmed glasses with the tip of her finger, as awkward as Aster remembers her. "I didn't think I'd find you here."</p><p>"I didn’t think I’d end up here either," she replies slowly, chewing on her lip. "How have you been?"</p><p>Ellie lifts a shoulder. "Good. You?"</p><p>"Good," she repeats, finding herself just a bit off-footed. </p><p>She'll admit that she's imagined crossing paths with Ellie a few times since they'd last seen each other, the echoes of her proclamation ringing in her ears. <em> You watch, okay? In a couple of years I’m gonna be so sure. </em></p><p>"So…" Aster says now, slow. Feigning nonchalance. "It's been more than a couple of years." </p><p>“Ah, yeah. It has.” Ellie nods in turn. She watches Aster’s face carefully, as if trying to decipher whatever’s written on her face. “And…?”</p><p>Aster's lip twitches up, catching the hopeful lilt in her voice. Ellie clears her throat and tries again at her silence. “I mean… you know, <em> and </em>?”</p><p>While Aster thinks she <em> knows </em> what Ellie is asking, she feels a bit too exposed to answer. Five years is no small amount of time; there’s no doubt that Ellie had changed as well in all that time, and Aster’s not sure she’s ready to lay her heart out just yet.</p><p>Aster takes a deep breath, looks around, before coming to a decision. "What are you doing right now?"</p><p>Ellie blinks at her, seemingly confused by the turn of the question. "Uh, I was just gonna stop by the book shop,” she answers conversationally. “I sort of finished all my reading material on the way here, figured I’d get some more."</p><p>"Okay. How about tonight?"</p><p>She thinks about it for a moment. "Dinner at home. Paul wants me and my dad to try out this new sausage taco recipe he has."</p><p>"Oh." Aster considers asking what her plans are over the weekend but she's pretty sure it'd be filled with activity for their reunion. She’s not sure what else to say, if she’s honest. “Okay. Well, then, I guess it’s - ”</p><p>"I don't <em> have </em> to go to the bookstore right now," Ellie clarifies suddenly, as if she'd only just caught on. “I can be free.”</p><p>A slow smile slips onto Aster's face. "Yeah?”</p><p>““Yeah.” Ellie mirrors her smile. “Where do you have in mind?”</p>
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